Instagram – Monsoon Books

Newsletter

Sign up for our newsletter
Signup for our newsletter to get notified about sales and new products. Add any text here or remove it.
[contact-form-7 id="7042" title="Newsletter Vertical"]

Wishlist
Login
Basket / £0.00 0
- No products in the basket.

Posted @withregram • @learninghappenseverywhere

Posted @withregram • @learninghappenseverywhere Do you watch/read the news with your kids?

I know not everyone does, and that doing so can provide a very slanted view of the world - but anyhow, at our house, we do. But we don’t do only local news - we try to sample through other places the kids are connected to, that they’ve travelled to, that have meaning for them. It shows them a non-touristy view of the place, what issues are being experienced there, and allows them to compare what news media there shows compared to news media here. Key point being, we talk extensively about what we see being reported/not reported.

The point of my babble above is that some months ago, back when Covid-19 still felt countries away, we were inspired to learn about the situation for domestic helpers and other migrant workers in Singapore, since the outbreak in the worker dorms had highlighted their plight. We’d discussed it - this topic breaks my heart - but eventually moved onto other topics, until I came across this book and we all read it. It’s aimed at a middle-grade audience, and both my kids highly recommend it for bringing to light the plight of these domestic workers in a very balanced, yet kid-friendly way. It highlights very nicely the impossible situation these workers are in, and the importance of teaching the next generation to prioritize kindness and social justice.

Caveat: for a middle grade book, there are a surprising amount of swear words in this book, from both the 10 year old protagonist and her mother. No filter! And the resolution of the plot line is quite white-saviour-ish, 🙄, but I suppose that can be another discussion point for guided reading. 🤷🏻‍♀️ This isn’t a book to leave with the kids to enjoy on their own - it’s definitely going to need discussion of all parts.

#homeschool #homeschoolmom #raisingreaders #middlegradebooks #middlegradefiction #bookwormkids #thisishowwehomeschool #unschooling #chipmunksofinstagram @monsoonbooks

Posted @withregram • @literasea.bookclub “Ther

Posted @withregram • @literasea.bookclub “There wasn’t any fiction about Brunei; it might be novel to have a sort of window into that small country.”⁣
⁣
In April, the LiteraSEA Book Club caught up with the author of Written In Black, Dr. K.H. Lim via Skype. We talked about Lim’s inspiration for the book and wondered if the story had been based on his own childhood — here we share the highlights with you!⁣
⁣
We also caught up about the Bruneian literary scene and censorship, but we’ll share them with you some other time ⁣👀
⁣
Thank you Dr. KH Lim for spending time with us, and @monsoonbooks for connecting!⁣
⁣
#LiteraSEAbookclub #LiteraSEA #southeastasianliterature #asianliterature #southeastasia #brunei #bruneianliterature #KHLim #writteninblack #bookstagram #igbooks #diverseclassics #literature

Register for a Zoom lecture on “Writing Indonesi

Register for a Zoom lecture on “Writing Indonesian History” by Prof. Anthony Reid of ANU at bit.ly/Guest-LectureS3 (Thursday 20 Aug, 1pm WIB, 2pm Singapore, 4pm AEST, 6am GMT)

Monsoon Books has yet to hear back from the Indonesian organizers but we believe the original Indonesian flyer should have read Thursday 20 Aug, not Tuesday 20 Aug (so we have edited their flyer). Please try the following login credentials if you don’t hear directly from the Indonesian organizers:

Meeting ID: 965 8813 8717
Passcode: 676947
Or click on the following link to join:
https://undip-ac-id.zoom.us/j/96588138717?pwd=dU9SSksrQlFSY2NHM1Z0eUZHQzcvQT09

Register for a Zoom lecture on “Writing Indonesi

Register for a Zoom lecture on “Writing Indonesian History as Fact and Fiction” by Prof. Anthony Reid, author of “Mataram”, on Tues, 20 Aug at bit.ly/Guest-LectureS3 #indonesia #indonesianliterature #booksonindonesia #java #mataram #historicalfiction

Posted @withregram • @booksandlibri #readingthew

Posted @withregram • @booksandlibri #readingtheworld 25. 🇧🇳Brunei Darussalam
K. H. Lim, Written in Black
Jonathan's grandfather is dead and the whole family reunites to celebrate the traditional Chinese funeral rites. The shock and the contrasts with the cousins, aunts and uncles, are the last drops for the young boy's already shaken mind. His mother has gone away and doesn't want to speak to him and his brother was kicked out of home and is now living with a rockband! He has to flee to find him and thus talk to her. And grandpa's coffin seems the only way to do it.

•
#leggereilmondo 25. 🇧🇳Brunei Darussalam
K. H. Lim, *Scritto in nero*
Il nonno di Jonathan è morto e tutta la famiglia si riunisce per celebrare i tradizionali riti funebri cinesi. Ma lo shock e i contrasti con i cugini, zie e zii, sono le fatidiche gocce che fanno traboccare il vaso per la mente già scossa del bambino. Sua madre se n'è andata e non vuole parlargli, mentre suo fratello è stato cacciato di casa e ora vive con un gruppo rock! Jonathan deve fuggire per trovarlo e così riuscire parlare con la mamma. E la bara del nonno sembra l'unico modo per farlo.

#readtheworld#brunei#bruneidarussalam#bruneianliterature#letteraturabruneiana#khlim#writteninblack#comingofage#comingofagenovel#romanzodiformazione#bookstagram

Posted @withregram • @ns510reads #AseanMonthLSBC

Posted @withregram • @ns510reads #AseanMonthLSBC week 1 // 📚 A bit late to the party but here’s a stack of Southeast Asian literature to celebrate ASEAN month! A mix of books I’ve read and some on the tbr, by writers within the region and across the diaspora
.
I’m currently reading THE MOUNTAINS SING by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and really enjoying it. Looking forward to new recs throughout the month! Any must-reads/faves you’d recommend? Recommendations gratefully accepted! ❤️

Visit “Asian Review of Books” to read Peter Go

Visit “Asian Review of Books” to read Peter Gordon’s review of Sue Paul’s “Jeopardy of Every Wind: The biography of Captain Thomas Bowrey”.

Review excerpt:
“Thomas Bowrey left London for India as a child in 1688; his father had died of the plague in 1665, a tragedy compounded by the Great Fire the next year. Shipping him off to India was not the worst thing a mother could do in such circumstances. Bowrey arrived in Fort St George, Madras after the New Year, by then the ripe old age of nine.

“Bowrey stayed in Asia for the next two decades, gradually becoming a successful, albeit not hugely successful, independent trader, running goods between India and various parts of Southeast Asia. He returned to London, married, and promptly set himself up in business. Bowrey’s main claim to fame is not, however, his business ventures but rather the English-Malay dictionary he published in 1701, that and the fact he apparently made the first English-language reference to the recreational use of cannabis.”

“Jeopardy of Every Wind: The biography of Captain Thomas Bowrey” by Sue Paul is available from leading bookstores in the UK and will be released in SE Asia, Australia and USA in October.

#monsoonbooks #dollarbirdbooks #singapore #biography #india #malaysia #malaylanguage #travelogue #asianreviewofbooks

‪‘A Yellow House’ by Karien van Ditzhuijzen

‪‘A Yellow House’ by Karien van Ditzhuijzen opens a window to the lives of Indonesian domestic workers in Singapore, says Desca Angelianawati in The Jakarta Post https://tinyurl.com/y9p7p6y7‬ #thejakartapost #indonesia #singapore #modernslavery

Posted @withregram • @limcaco_books A few weeks

Posted @withregram • @limcaco_books A few weeks ago, I had an epiphany: I should stop spending more than an hour on a book that doesn’t greatly delight, tickle, or titillate me. Life is precious and Cov*d could snatch it away like it’s nothing (human life IS nothing, if Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari is to be believed 🥺). With that epiphany moment in mind, I didn’t think I should finish this novel... but I did. I just needed to get past 100 pages to realize that the coming-of-age tale of a straight guy navigating life in a ‘pesantren’ (low-cost housing for Muslim students) among the company of linguistically inventive hairdressers is worth my short time on earth. It’s like Catcher in the Rye but if Holden were a poor Indonesian school boy who works part-time as a briefs-clad angel waiter. If you really think about it, it’s not at all like Catcher in the Rye. In conclusion, I enjoyed reading this.

Mixed emotions as work from home ends and we retur

Mixed emotions as work from home ends and we return to the office #monsoonbooks

Monsoon Books is pleased to announce the sale of t

Monsoon Books is pleased to announce the sale of the TV/film option in Nigel Barley’s “Island of Demons”, a historical novel set in 1930s Bali, Indonesia, based on the life of Walter Spies, ethnographer, choreographer, film maker, natural historian and painter #monsoonbooks #historicalfiction #bali #baliindonesia #indonesia #ubud #ubudlife #walterspieshouse #walterspies #bookstoscreen

During lockdown, Monsoon Books’ office landlord

During lockdown, Monsoon Books’ office landlord has created a number of walks around the business park to encourage healthy living. Feeling blessed to work in the fresh air of the countryside (and only 60 mins from London by train). #monsoonbooks

Happy Birthday Lt Col JP Cross, author of Gurkha m

Happy Birthday Lt Col JP Cross, author of Gurkha military fiction set in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Burma and India. Retired frontier soldier, jungle fighter and military attaché, JP Cross fought in Burma, Indo-China, Malaya and Borneo and served in India, Pakistan, HK, Laos and Nepal. Author of 20 books including “Operation Janus”, “Operation Blind Spot”, “Operation Black Rose” and forthcoming “Operation Stealth” #monsoonbooks #militaryfiction #historicalfiction #malaysia #gurkha #burma #indonesia #borneo #singapore

Instagram post 17865057649888522

Instagram post 17865057649888522

Congratulations, Anjana, on the launch of “The S

Congratulations, Anjana, on the launch of “The Scent of Frangipani” at Singapore Writers Festival 2019. #swf2019 #sgwritersfest #monsoonbooks

Please join Monsoon Books at Singapore Writers Fes

Please join Monsoon Books at Singapore Writers Festival 2019 for the launch of “The Scent of Frangipani” by Anjana Rai Chaudhuri, moderated by Suchen Christine Lim. 3-4pm Sunday 10 November at The Arts House (Gallery II), Singapore. @sgwritersfest #sgwritersfest #swf2019